Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares have been on a wild ride over the last 12 months.
After soaring to a 52-week high of $5.43 in August, the lithium miner's shares ended the week at $3.53.
While the decline over the five months might be disappointing for some, I doubt that longer term shareholders will be too dismayed.
That's because Pilbara Minerals' shares have delivered staggering returns for them over the last decade.
The state of play a decade ago
If you were to have invested in Pilbara Minerals shares 10 years ago, you wouldn't have been investing in an ASX lithium share.
This battery making ingredient wasn't on the menu for the company at that point.
For example, in November 2013, the company raised $750,000 to support drilling activities at the Tabba Tabba Tantalum Project in Western Australia.
It wasn't until a year later that the company signed an agreement to "evaluate the potential to produce high-grade lithium carbonate from the extensive lepidolite mineralisation at its 100%-owned Pilgangoora Lithium-Tantalum Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia."
The company's CEO at the time, David Biddle, said: "This is a great opportunity which could unlock substantial value."
He wasn't wrong.
What would $10,000 invested in Pilbara Minerals shares 10 years ago be worth now?
If you had been lucky enough to invest $10,000 into Pilbara Minerals shares in January 2014, you would have been able to snap them up for 3 cents each.
This means you would have ended up holding approximately 333,333 units.
Fast forward to today, with the Pilbara Minerals share price now fetching $3.53, those units would be worth almost $1.2 million if you had held onto them.
It's also worth noting that over the last 12 months, the company has paid out 25 cents per share in fully franked dividends.
That would have seen you receive a pay check of approximately $83,000 in dividends for the 12 months.
I think I might look for the next Pilbara Minerals this long weekend!
